The Cannabis Services Advisory Board will hold monthly meetings between businesses, lawmakers and other interested parties. It will seek to work with the government on business development and regulation issues. Board members include medical cannabis cultivation business Northern Leaf and cannabis production company Cicada, both of which are Jersey-based, as well as cannabinoids business Tenacious Labs, which has offices in London and Miami.
Northern Leaf and Cicada both hold newly approved commercial medical cannabis licences, which allow cultivation and manufacturing of high-THC medical cannabis for export.
A board statement says: ‘The board has been set up with support from the government to represent all interested parties in the emerging cannabis sector ranging from growers to financial services. It promotes Jersey worldwide as a financial centre for the sector with the appropriate legislation and regulation. It is open to and welcomes additional members.
‘The Cannabis Services Advisory Board has already been actively engaged with the Jersey government initiative to update legislation. The board has provided critical input and counsel around the government’s recent updates regarding the Proceeds of Crime (Jersey) Law 1999. On 30 June, the States Assembly passed an amendment which, for the first time, allows businesses in the Island to have direct or indirect involvement with legal cannabis sectors overseas without it or its directors falling foul of the Proceeds of Crime legislation, which is not the case elsewhere, including in the UK or USA.’
Economic Development Minister Lyndon Farnham said: ‘We are building a world-leading industry and this kind of voluntary self-regulatory underpinning by those actively engaged with this emergent sector will ensure our products are first class.’
Tenacious Labs chief executive Nick Morland, the board’s chairman, said of the new body: ‘Not only does it take on an ambassadorial role for the industry attracting new investment from across the globe, it also provides a vital communication channel between those organisations and the Government of Jersey.’
‘Tenacious Labs is delighted to play a part in helping Jersey in its development of a strong and well-managed island industry for the long term, while also providing a benchmark for what an expertly represented cannabis sector can look like.’
